The Edge of the World
by MrsNazarioWrites
Summary: In the wake of a horrifying revelation, Maya's world is turned upside down. The man in front of her begins to behave suspiciously and - when the real Damien arrives - he shows his true face along with an accomplice. Before she knows it Maya is left to fend for herself with only Alana to rely on while the rest of the gang is hot on their trail; Damien Nazario x MC
1. Indescribable

**A/N:** This is an AU series that picks up after Perfect Match Book 1, in which Damien's switch occurred at the Louvre, not at Eros. I started this a LONG time ago, sometime after book 1 had ended – book 2 wasn't out at the time. With that in mind, just know that this story will deviate heavily from canon.

Content warnings: Generally, this series is very action-packed and suspenseful. That means there will be violence (non-graphic, of course). There is also going to be kidnapping. If there are any additional content warnings for individual chapters, I will post it at the beginning of each chapter so you know what to expect.

**Summary:** Maya reels in shock from what just happened with Damien and tries to process it. But is he who he really says he is? Is he Damien at all?

* * *

"_I can't!"_ His voice was small, terrified. Completely unlike him.

Maya's blood ran cold; her head was spinning as she continued to stare at Damien, open-mouthed. "D?" she whispered softly. Hesitantly. _Oh god, don't tell me-!_

Damien's breathing became more erratic as the terror in his features increased two-fold. His hands shook violently as they clutched hers more tightly. "I … I … What's happening to me?" he swallowed hard.

Thousands of questions were racing through her mind as Maya tried to backtrack the harrowing events on that island. She combed through every detail, wondering what could have possibly happened between now and then. They'd been there the whole time! Everyone had filled each other in on what had happened. What could have-

_The experiments._ Nadia and Steve's imprisonment. Hayden had been restrained and prepared for repurposing and Sloane had been locked up briefly before escaping. All she knew of Damien was that he'd been interrogated in his cell. Had something else happened he hadn't told them about? Maya's brows furrowed in thought as she recalled her brief encounter with Cecile and Harley.

_Harley. Hayden's look-alike._ _If Hayden could have a clone then what if Damien-_ She bit her lip, feeling her stomach doing flip-turns as her mind explored numerous horrifying possibilities.

Damien seemed to notice the various expressions on her face flit back and forth between suspicion and worry. He shook his head frantically, as if trying to deny whatever he thought was going through her mind; anything to reassure her. "Maya," he begged. "Please don't- I'm not-"

That brought her back to the present and she removed a hand from his, placing it on his dampened cheek. She shushed him gently as he began to stammer. "Damien. Breathe," she whispered shakily. "It's gonna be okay."

"No," He stopped listening to her at some point. "It's not possible, this can't be, I-"

"Damien-"

"Tell me it's not true, Maya!" He said heatedly. "It's me! You know it's me! They couldn't have- it's not true!" Curious glances came their way as Damien raised his voice amidst his rambling.

Suddenly, he stopped and took a deep breath, stepping back for a moment and scrubbing the tears from his eyes. Maya had to swallow the lump in her throat from having to see the always-in-control Damien Nazario nearly reduced to an emotional wreck. She'd seen him shed tears before when he'd confided in her about Beitan, but not like _this_. She pressed her hand over her mouth to muffle the sob that threatened to escape her.

This wasn't the man she knew. What had Eros done to him? Could he remember anything?

_Can he remember at all? Was he brainwashed?_

_Is he even my Damien? If not, where is he? Was he taken before we got to the museum? After we reached Paris? Did he even make it to Paris?_

Maya felt a wave of nausea that nearly brought her to her knees. _No, it's not possible. I saw him; we escaped together. _She'd certainly noticed changes in his behavior since their escape. Damien had been far more relaxed during their time together in Paris. Part of it could've been that they'd already been through a lot and he didn't want to add to the stress for once.

But she'd still noticed that something was off. Like there was something he was trying to avoid telling her. She recalled their 'not-date' at the Eiffel Tower; that one time, he'd admitted that he was worried about what was coming next. Maya had merely joked about his worrywart tendencies then, but now she found herself wondering if she should've pressed him further on that.

Steadying herself against the railing in front of the paintings, she tried to process this whirlpool of thoughts that kept going in unknown directions and never seemed to reach any solutions. Maya's mind was in such a jumble that she was hardly aware of her surroundings until Damien was shaking her back to attention.

"Maya we have to go." There was a newfound determination in his eyes as he took her hands in his again.

"Wha …?"

"Away from here. We need to figure this out."

"I- okay, let me just text the others-" Maya reached toward her pocket for her phone, but yelped in surprise when Damien yanked her hand away. "Damien we have to tell Nadia, Sloane and-"

"Do it later," he said firmly. "We've gotta get out of here first."

"What?! Why?!" His fingers tightened their hold on her wrist as he suddenly pulled her into an empty hallway near them. "Hey! Damien, what are you-!"

"We never know who could be listening," he muttered. "We have to keep moving." He kept walking at a brisk pace down the path until they reached the exit; a door that read 'Sortie'.

"I get that, but would you just wait-"

Damien shoved the door open with such strength that it banged into the wall on the other side; he ignored the surprised stares from the few people nearby and continued walking in large, rapid strides into the parking lot – a very deserted parking lot. Maya almost tripped several times as she struggled to keep up with him. She could only watch him in bewilderment as a familiarly sick feeling began to creep into her gut. "Damien," she tried to reason with him again. "Nadia and the others are still inside-"

He whirled around, using his other hand to cup her chin, tilting it up towards him. "You still trust me, don't you Maya?"

"Well yes, but-"

"Then listen to me." Damien's grip on her firmed. His eyes had darkened and were lacking in the softness she was used to seeing in them. His fingers were digging painfully into her skin as he brought his face closer to hers.

Maya winced and began to squirm away. "Damien stop, you're hurting me." Alarms were going off in her head at this point. Every instinct was screaming at her to run, though it would mean accepting that the Damien in front of her was a fake … and that the real one was missing somewhere.

She didn't want to believe this was happening again. Not after everything they'd been through. But some part of her had already registered the ugly truth. _First Harley, now this? _Maya wished with all her heart that her Damien was safe and sound and that this was just some big mistake. But this behavior he was showing was unraveling her hopes one at a time.

"What's going on here?"

Both of them turned to find Alana standing there. She looked between the two of them, taking in their tear-stained faces – Damien looked increasingly perturbed and avoided eye contact with her, while Maya was shrinking away from him ever so slightly. Alana's gaze settled on Damien's tight hold on Maya and her eyes narrowed. She angled her head towards Damien while addressing her. "Maya?" her expression was unreadable but there was a barely detectable hint of something in her voice. _Was that … concern?_ Dare she think it? _God why is everyone acting so weird today?_

Damien scowled at her. "Wouldn't you like to know," he snapped. "I thought you were going to the airport."

Maya gaped at him. "Damien!" She felt his hold loosen a bit and took the opportunity to step back from him.

"Didn't realize you missed me that much, Nazario," Alana quipped. "And for your information I _was_ waiting to call a cab when I caught wind of a certain detective and his little girlfriend creating a scene in the parking lot." She crossed her arms, smirking. "Naturally I thought I'd offer my assistance."

"Yeah?" Damien challenged. "Well your _assistance_ got us all captured last time, so if you'll excuse us-" He reached for Maya again, obviously intending to take her somewhere else.

"W-wait," Before he could move again, Maya clutched his jacket to keep him in place and she took a deep breath before speaking. "Look I know we just had a huge bombshell dropped on us and how hard this is on you now," she said as she rubbed his shoulder in small, gentle circles. She chose her words carefully as she gazed into his eyes, searching. "But the last thing we should do is split up. You know that better than anyone, D." He was looking more agitated by the second and Maya clenched her fists against his jacket, watching him imploringly. "Please be rational! There are enough doubts in my mind as it is!"

His eyes narrowed. "There's no time," he growled.

"All right that's it, will one of you just tell me what the hell is going on?" Alana demanded.

Maya's voice wavered as she started to explain what had happened at the exhibit. Alana's expression flickered between confusion and shock into that of a calculative one as she was trying to process this new revelation. They had just gotten to the part where he had decided to go back to the hotel when the doors to the museum burst open again and Nadia, Steve, Hayden and Sloane were rushing out with uneasy looks on their faces; as though they were searching for something. They were all led by-

_Damien?!_

Maya froze and her voice trailed off. He was scanning the parking lot frantically as he ran out, his clothes and hair disheveled. He was too far away for her to hear what he was saying but she knew he was calling her name. He was Damien. The _real_ Damien. He had to be!

"I- what in the-" Alana followed where she was looking, then whirled around to face the other Damien who was glancing at a van that had just parked next to the curb they were at.

Maya's eyes widened. _I knew it._ That right there confirmed everything she'd feared and everything she'd wished for. She didn't think; didn't say anything more. She started toward the other direction, dimly hoping Alana would catch on. "Damien!" Her heart swelled with longing as she called to him again. Damien – _her _Damien – was here. He was _alive_, he was-

Strong fingers curled around her shoulder and she felt herself being jerked back by the one she now knew was a fake. Angry tears welled up in her eyes as she began to resist his- the _match's_ hold. "Get off me!" She slapped his hand away from her and twisted from him to make a run for the group again. But he caught her arm in a vice grip and began to drag her towards the van. "No!" She shouted, throwing her weight back to get away. "Let me go!"

Suddenly, she heard the van's door open and there was a _click! _as a gun was pressed to Alana's head. "Get in the car," another eerily familiar voice came out. "Both of you."

_What the actual hell?! _Her stomach dropped as she recognized his blonde hair and blue eyes; a face she knew all too well. "Harley," she whispered, shuddering as she remembered that creepy smile from when she was holed up with him back at Eros' facility.

Harley grabbed Alana's arms and nudged her towards the van. She threw her head back slamming him in the face before moving to knock the gun out of his hands. But he recovered quickly and managed to lock one of her arms behind her back with impressive strength, pressing the gun against her throat. "Let me make one thing clear," he snarled in her ear. "Our father wants all of you; but you're the only one he didn't specify to bring back alive. I'd be careful if I were you."

Alana's eyes darted from him to the other side of the parking lot where the rest of the gang was. Steve was pointing in their direction and shouting something to the rest of the group. Before she could say anything though, she was shoved into the front seat of the van.

"Damien!" Maya was screaming, craning her body in the direction of the one she wanted; she planted her feet on the ground, trying to slow down her captor, only for them to give out from under her. She threw her weight forward and slammed her elbow back, aiming for the match's gut, but he caught her around her waist and she felt herself being lifted off the ground. "No!" Maya thrashed as wildly as she could and called for her other friends as well, her voice going uncharacteristically shrill in her desperation.

Then she saw Damien bolting in their direction, Nadia and Hayden hot on his heels. His face twisted in pure rage and horror as he took in the scene in front of him.

She felt herself land face-first on the soft cushion of the van's backseat, the match following after her and shutting the door.

"Floor it, Alana!" Harley demanded, still pointing his gun at her from where he was sitting in the passenger's seat.

Maya lunged for the door, reaching for the handle, but she didn't get far. The match's hand clamped roughly over her mouth as he hauled her back onto the seat, pinning her down. Maya beat her fists furiously against him, not caring whether she was hitting his shoulders or his face. The match pulled back for one second to reach into his jacket before pressing her down into the seat once again. His entire body weight was against her, his inhuman strength completely restricting her movement.

"I- I-" Alana's composure wavered briefly. She was looking out the window, her sight fixated on Damien. She could hear him shouting furiously as the others were rapidly approaching the van. There was a brief flicker of pain on her face before she glanced up at the rearview mirror and locked eyes with Maya, who was watching her pleadingly with tears streaming down her face.

Damien was yanking at the already-locked door as he pounded on the van's tinted windows, cursing voraciously.

"Now!"

Alana took a quick breath and her expression was once again replaced by her cool, emotionless mask. "Sorry," she whispered to no one in particular before slamming her foot on the accelerator. Everyone was briefly thrown back as their vehicle took off with a loud screech.

Maya tossed her head from side to side in a panic as she continued to fight the match's hold. _How were they able to do this? Matches can't harm humans! They can't-_

She gasped when a thick cloth was pressed over her nose and mouth. A chemical smell filled her nostrils and her body began to feel heavier by the second. Her eyes widened and she looked up at the match as he sneered at her; wearing Damien's face. Her stomach lurched as she noted the uncanny resemblance, the reality of it all tearing through her like a bullet. Maya's vision started blurring and she fought to stay awake as she struggled weakly, her feeble protests muffled by the cloth. As her eyelids began drooping, she heard him laugh – Damien's laugh, copied into a robot along with all the other things she loved about him.

_It's not him. It's not him._

"Relax Maya, you'll see him again soon," he whispered.

Maya was still gripping the match's collar as she tried and failed to push him away. As her strength faded, her arms flopped weakly to her sides. She felt him release her as her head slumped to the side and darkness swallowed her up.


	2. Before the Storm

**A/N:** There are a some flashbacks to events in Chapter 16 in this part up to and including the Eiffel Tower scene, so get ready to find TONS of game dialogues. I reused them all for all those scenes.

**Summary: **Damien reflects on events since the group's hectic escape, knowing that soon enough, it'll be time for them to be on the move again. Unfortunately, Eros happens to be one step ahead of him.

* * *

_**A couple of days ago…**_

_It was utter chaos as Damien took down one guard after the other. Spraying the fire extinguisher everywhere certainly disoriented the guards enough to disarm them quickly; though it was also a little inconvenient when it came to seeing where he was going._

_Just when it seemed like they were going to get overwhelmed, several other matches jumped into the fray and to his surprise, joined them in attacking the guards. From a distance, Damien could make out Sloane and Maya fiddling with the controls at a computer, saying something about "an army of Haydens". _They turned the other matches against them. _He smirked. _That's my girl.

"_Go, Maya! Take the others and run! We'll hold them off!" One of the female Haydens called. "Once you're clear, we'll head to the generators and give Eros your regards."_

Guess that's our cue. _Just as he was about to follow, something caught his eye in a nearby hallway. Squinting past the fog from the extinguisher, he inched closer to take a peek. From the corner of his eye, he frowned when he caught hint of several guards that had regrouped, whispering distinctly to each other as they hauled someone onto a cart._

Is that one of us? _He turned to the other side to see Maya, Sloane and Hayden rushing to the elevator amidst the guards who were struggling with the newly-activated matches. _No definitely not. _Damien couldn't make out the person's figure, because of the confusion going on around him except that it looked like a tan-skinned male. It wasn't Steve or Hayden, for sure but it definitely felt familiar. Too familiar._

_From the corner of his eye, he could see several other guards rushing at him. Damien charged into one of them, slamming him to the ground. The other two were dispatched by another one the Haydens fighting for them._

"_You should get going, Damien." He said seriously. "Once you're all out of here, this place will be set to blow."_

_Damien's heart pounded in his chest as he felt a sense of unease, glancing between that area and the exit. What were they hauling onto the cart? Was that another match? As much as he wanted to pursue that, there was no time. He had to get out of here._

_Taking a deep breath, he nodded to the match in thanks and sprinted towards the elevator._

* * *

_**Present day at the Louvre …**_

Damien sighed as he approached the sink to wash his hands. He had just left the gift shop with Alana after collecting everyone's new passports into an envelop. On the way he'd stopped to use the restroom, telling Alana to go on ahead and wait with the group until he was back.

Their escape from Eros had been several days ago. It had been a harrowing event and he'd nearly missed the elevator. But they'd made it out somehow. Fortunately, Hayden's recently-installed piloting skills came in handy once again as they were able to use Rowan's helicopter to make their getaway.

The old man had been livid, upon realizing they'd reprogrammed his matches against his guards. It even seemed he wasn't quite over what Maya had done to his synthetic eye either. Watching him go ballistic over all that as they made off with his helicopter had been amusing to say the least. Even if it was one of the most cliché listing-out-the-good-guys'-transgressions-against-him speeches ever.

"_You can always tell the authorities," Damien's jaw was taut in his defiance as he told off the irate CEO. "After you explain the whole 'keeping us imprisoned' thing."_

"_Very glib, Mr. Nazario. But if you all think this will stop me, you are sorely mistaken."_

Everything else that followed felt like a blur as they'd flown from one city to another, hoping to stay off of Eros' trail. The facility may have exploded, but its personnel had still made it out. By the time they'd landed in Paris, everyone was exhausted, though being in this particular city seemed to lift their spirits. Of course, Nadia had been more than excited to check it out and was especially excited about visiting the Louvre.

Even Damien had had to admit he'd felt lighter for the first time since their escape and was glad to see everyone relaxed for once. But what he'd seen at the facility still wasn't sitting right with him. Clearly Eros had something else in store for them and was likely going to plan their next move at some point. After all, they did have an entire factory of matches. Had they all been destroyed in the explosion? Were there anymore out there?

He'd thought about bringing this up with the others, but thanks to how out-of-control that entire fight had been, Damien hadn't been able to look into it properly. On top of that, everyone else was still coming down from the stress of everything they'd been through, so he'd decided not to add to it; at least not without having all of his facts together. So, he played it cool for the time being, much to Maya's surprise.

As soon as they'd checked into the hotel, Damien had made plans to meet with one of his contacts who were in the city to obtain passports for everyone and to possibly gain some intel on Eros agents and their whereabouts. He was convinced without a doubt that while Eros was likely still recuperating from the loss of their facility, it was only a matter of time before they would be at their heels again.

There was also the fact that the night before they'd escaped the Arctic HQ, Damien had gone through several files and memos in Eros' laptops and noted any names, terms or locations that had stood out to him. There was no way of knowing if Rowan or Cecile had caught on to him.

Either way, they couldn't stick around here for _too _long; even after they headed back to New York, it wasn't as though they could just get on with their lives. But hopefully once they found some stable place to lie low, they'd have an easier time keeping tabs on Eros and planning their next move. After all, with all the incriminating data against them lost, he and his friends were back to square one on how to handle all this.

The rest of the weekend had gone rather smoothly with everyone taking full advantage of the city of love. Maya had been surprised and maybe even a little wary of Damien's change in attitude, which made him chuckle when he thought about it. She'd always been one to go out of her way to make him think positively, but now that he was giving it a try, she was finding it weird.

Occasionally, he'd seen a curious look in her eyes, as if she felt like something was off. They'd barely touched the subject during their trip to the Eiffel Tower but hadn't delved too deeply into it. After all, he hadn't found anything suspicious on Eros so far; no reason to worry her unnecessarily.

Damien couldn't help smiling as he recalled that night.

—

_**Two days ago …**_

_Damien knew he sounded ridiculously sappy at the moment as he let himself loose with all the cheesy confessions; how overwhelmed he'd been at the thought of losing her before that now that they were safe, he could appreciate everything so much more. The harrowing events at the facility had changed everything for him._

_What he'd experienced there, what Maya had been put through being holed up with what was essentially Hayden's evil twin only to be dragged off to an interrogation room five minutes later; the way Cecile had used Harley to try and torment her just to collect data for their twisted experiments …_

_The idea of how much danger they were in and how much danger they were still in had become such a terrifying reality. Now that they were standing here together at one of the most classic romantic getaways, any sarcastic comments about it being a cliché were lost on him tonight. All he wanted now was to enjoy this moment with her; just the two of them, safe and was watching him with wide eyes as she acknowledged how much happier or relaxed he seemed._

"_Opening up about Beitan with you … definitely helped," Damien said, nodding. "Having someone else who knows what happened … it helps me feel so much less alone." His voice was thick with emotion as he spoke._

"_We're okay now Damien," Maya reassured him gently, placing a hand on his cheek. "Even if we didn't stop Eros for good, we dealt them a serious blow." Then she smirked. "Literally. We blew up their factory. They're going to need some time to recover from that."_

_Telling Maya about Beitan had not been something Damien had been looking forward to at first. But at the same time, the Eros guard using that information to get a rise out of him had been a harsh wakeup call that it was high time he faced this. There was no telling when they'd try using the same trick on him again and he wasn't about to let his past become his weakness. Not when there was so much more at stake now._

_It was a difficult subject for him and Damien had been genuinely afraid of what she'd think of him after knowing the truth; knowing about how his mistake had unwittingly led to a child's death. But Maya had been understanding, insisting that it wasn't his fault; that he'd done whatever he could. His superiors had told him the same thing before. But having heard it from the woman who meant so much to him had made a bigger difference._

_That had convinced Damien that he was definitely ready to let the past go and enjoy the present; losing Maya had been something he'd feared since the moment they'd had to flee New York. And everything they'd gone through at the facility had made it so much more real to him. On top of that, he already knew that this wouldn't be the end of it. All of them knew._

_But at the moment, all he could do was smile softly at Maya as she leaned against his shoulder, cuddling against him for warmth as she gazed out into the city. He wrapped his hands over hers, rubbing them together against the cold. Damien still couldn't believe he'd wasted so much time hesitating to tell her how he felt when really, she could've been his a long time ago._

"_We've been through a lot," he murmured. "How are you holding up?"_

"_Things with Eros were pretty intense," Maya said, her smile fading just a little bit. "All those matches there were so creepy."_

"_We knew there had to be others," he told her matter-of-factly. "Eros wouldn't set up a whole operation for just two."_

"_I know," she said, a hint of worry etched into her features. "But I just never thought there would be that many. A whole factory of them …"_

"_Yeah," he nodded seriously. "I'm worried about where things will go from here."_

_A smile graced her lips. "You're always worried," she giggled._

_He smirked. "Someone has to be the voice of reason among all you _optimists_."_

_They talked and laughed back and forth for several minutes. Bringing up Alana's actions had been a little awkward to say the least. But Maya seemed to be handling it a lot better than she did before. Initially, she'd been understandably furious; hell, they all had been. But now, she was acknowledging how she could be valuable in the future._

_There was no denying that Alana had major issues and that it wasn't a good idea to get too comfortable relying on her. But her assistance had been well worth it when confronted with all those guards. Practically speaking, sticking together had been the best option in that particular situation. It was good to have her helping out, so long as she felt that the situation could help her achieve her ends somehow._

_However difficult she could be, Alana was a good fighter, resourceful and she had contacts all over the globe. Who knew? Maybe she would come in handy somewhere in the future? They were going to be on the run for a while longer after all …_

"_Besides … As much as I don't trust her, I do still care about her well-being."_

_Maya's eyebrows shot up at his comment and she drew away from him slightly. "_Care _about her?" Her face didn't show much, but he could detect a slight narrowing of her eyes._

_Damien rolled his eyes, suppressing a chuckle. "She's my ex, not my arch-nemesis. I don't need to have feelings for her to hope she doesn't get hurt."_

"_Fair point." A long, comfortable silence passed between them before she spoke again. "Sooo, is this the big date you were going to take me on when we got back to New York?"_

_He laughed. "Getting impatient?"_

"_I just know what I want," Maya said, shooting him a devilish smirk. "I heard some people like that in a girl."_

_He sighed, glancing ahead for a moment, then back at her. "This isn't New York, and we're not entirely out of danger yet. So, I'd like to wait." He kissed her cheek, nuzzling her with his wind-chilled nose. Damien gazed into her eyes as he spoke plainly and honestly. "I want us to be at home, fully settled and back to normal. I want to be part of your real life … your boring, mundane everyday life. Being in dangerous situations like this, forced to rely on each other, all the adrenaline … it can heighten emotions, so it's-"_

"_You're worried I'll leave you when things aren't exciting anymore. Just like Alana did."_

_Damien flinched, then sighed, rubbing a hand through his windswept hair. He hadn't meant to compare her to Alana; not at all. Maya was nothing like her. But he'd learned a lot of things from his previous relationship, one of which was how quickly things between them had crashed and burned because of how they handled things._

_They'd rushed into everything too fast, allowed passion and carnal instinct to guide their decisions with no thought of the future and what it meant for them. They'd known and spent time with each other due to the nature their profession but had never gotten to know each other beyond that. That was how he'd ended up finding out that Alana never truly loved or understood him the way he thought she did._

_All of that was different with Maya. They'd been best friends long before he'd revisited his feelings, which was why he hadn't been too happy about the fact that they'd only admitted their feelings for each other when they were on the run. _

_It had felt like déjà vu for him again and he couldn't stand the idea of their relationship falling apart the same way. Maya was too special for him; she deserved more than just a getting-caught-up-in-the-moment-because-they're-in-danger sort of thing. He'd said it before and he'd say it again. _If this is going to happen, I want to do it right.

"_I just want to make sure you want me for … me. The real me," He said sincerely. "The boring, tired cranky me whose idea of a fun Friday night is getting drunk and making sarcastic commentary on made-for-TV movies."_

"_Hey …" she stopped him before he could start rambling. "I get it. And if waiting 'til New York is what it takes to make you comfortable in this relationship, then I'm willing to wait." Maya didn't ask any further into what he'd meant, but he could see it in her eyes that she completely understood. _God, how the hell did I get so lucky?

"_I really want to kiss you right now."_

_Grinning, Maya turned in his arms to face him and pressed her lips to his, stroking his cheek with one hand while her other hand felt up his chest. "Every time I kiss you, it feels like the first time all over again." He murmured against her skin._

"_Less cheesy lines, more kissing please."_

_Damien laughed as he kissed her again and again, tipping her back slightly as he supported her lower back, his palms pressing against her. Each kiss seemed to go on forever and Maya moaned softly into his mouth, driving him crazy for her. "Maya," he whispered in her ear as he kissed along her jaw and neck. "Can we go back to the hotel now?"_

"_So soon?" he could hear the amusement and desire in her voice as her arms circled around his neck, pulling him closer. "Whyever would we want to do that?" He could only answer her teasing with a low, hungry growl. Maya smirked at him, seeming to consider the idea. "Perhaps in a little bit," she said teasingly, walking her fingers up his chest. "For now, let's enjoy the view."_

"_And then?"_

_She giggled. "Come on, we're in _Paris_! I only get to see the Eiffel Tower once. Sexy shenanigans with you are available anytime."_

_He drew back from her slightly, flustered at her insinuation. "Excuse me? _Anytime?_"_

_Maya raised an eyebrow. "Am I wrong?" She enquired with a cheeky grin._

No, not entirely.

_Damien watched her carefully and felt himself starting to smile again as he'd done all evening, but he held back. "No comment," he simply said. She merely laughed at him as she snuggled closer to him. He held her close and just when he felt as though he was about to spout yet another cheesy line, Maya started complaining about the cold._

_He shot her a mock-hurt expression. "And here I thought you were cuddling me because you like me." He chuckled. "You're just in it for my body heat."_

_She shrugged. "I'm a vampire of warmth."_

"_Well as long as I get to hold you, I'm okay with that."_

_She bit her lip, seeming to hesitate about something at first. Then she tilted her head to look up at him. "I _really _like you, Damien Nazario," she said earnestly as she locked eyes with him. "You know that, right?"_

_She hadn't used the actual word, but he'd heard it nonetheless; seen the honesty in her expression. The overwhelming flood of emotion he felt rendered him speechless. _I'll never take another moment with you for granted, Maya, _He thought as he kissed her temple with a soft and happy hum. _I'll make this well worth the wait.

"_I'm so incredibly glad."_

* * *

Damien shook himself before he could get too caught up in reminiscing the carnal activities that had taken place soon after that at the Eiffel Tower.

As he started washing his hands, he heard movement behind him; a couple of footsteps entering the bathroom and then stopping as though waiting for something. He frowned at that. He was the only one in here; it wasn't like they had to wait in line to use the bathroom.

_Something's not right._

Damien kept his head down and watched the floor with the corner of his eyes, making out several pairs of black dress shoes and pants. He had a very good idea of who they were from.

One of the men walked up behind him, seeming to think he was still preoccupied with washing his hands, and reached into his pocket.

Damien whirled around just in time to intercept the man's hand, which was aimed at his neck; in it was a syringe. _Eros. I knew it. _Snarling, he knocked it out of the man's hand and stomped on the needle, crushing it as he twisted the man's arm and flipped him onto the ground.

As he glanced back up, two guards were rushing at him. Damien blocked one of their jabs and elbowed him to the side, only to be met with a savage punch to the jaw from another guard that knocked him back; his face collided with the sink's marble surface before he fell to the floor. Fists and feet came flying at him from all directions. Damien dodged and blocked them the best he could until he knocked one of them back with a solid kick to the gut.

Just as he was pushing himself back up, the other guard pounced on him, tackling him back to the ground and trapping him in a tight headlock obviously intended to knock him out. Damien managed to swipe the guard's taser from his holster behind him, shoving it into the guard's hip and rendering him senseless.

In the flurry of movement, Damien wasn't sure if he'd imagined it but it seemed as though there was another guy passing by the entrance to the bathroom wearing clothes similar to his own. But they'd left so quickly that he hadn't gotten a good enough glimpse.

He jumped to his feet as the two remaining guards charged him again; he delivered a powerful uppercut to the first one's head, knocking him out. Just as he did that, the other guard was coming at him, taser drawn. Damien ducked under his outstretched arm and maneuvered behind him as he grabbed his shoulder and shoved his taser into the guard's back.

Damien stood there breathing heavily as he scanned the room, making sure all of them were down for the count. Then he walked over to the other side of the bathroom to search for his envelop; it had somehow fallen there during the fight … and it wasn't there anymore. _It must've gotten stolen while I was occupied._

As much as he wanted to search for it some more, he wasn't about to stick around long enough for the guards to recover; or for any others to get to his friends. With that thought, he shoved the guards' tasers into his jacket's pockets and ran out into the hall, wiping off the trickle of blood from his jaw.

Damien went from hallway to hallway, keeping his body language inconspicuous as his eyes searched the area for any lurking guards. After a few minutes, he caught sight of Nadia, Steve and the others and darted over to them. "Nadia!"

"D!" Nadia squealed in excitement when she saw him. "You've gotta check out this-" she cut herself off mid-sentence as she noticed his current state. "Oh my god, what happened to you?!"

"Change of plans, we've gotta go. Now," Damien said breathlessly. "Eros found us." Everyone else visibly tensed upon hearing that. Sloane and Hayden looked to each other in worry. Steve immediately wrapped his arms protectively around Nadia.

"What?! How is that- and where's-"

"No time to talk, let's-" Suddenly, as he was looking over the rest of the group, he noticed that one person was not with them. A cold sense of dread filled him. "Wait, where's Maya?"

"I was about to ask you that!" Hayden exclaimed. He was taking in Damien's battered state and the worry in his eyes seemed to intensify. "She was just with you in the other hallway!"

"What? No, she wasn't!" Damien watched him in confusion. "I was just at the gift shop with Alana."

"But Alana was with you too! She said goodbye to all of us and headed off with a passport!" Nadia said shrilly. "Damien, what's the matter with you? You were right there!"

He massaged his temple as he tried to make sense of what he'd just heard. Then he put his hands together as he tried to explain to the rest of the group. "I stopped at the restroom on the way back. Alana said she'd meet me out with the rest of you."

"Damien, I swear we definitely saw her show up here with you!" Sloane insisted.

_How is that possible …? _"But I never came out with her because I was ambushed at-" He suddenly thought back to his near-capture at the restroom – his envelop with the passports going missing, the man walking by the bathroom; dressed exactly like him. "Oh my god …" he put his head in his hands as it all dawned on him.

"Damien, what?" Nadia grabbed his shoulders and shook them. "You're scaring me! How can you not remember being with Maya?!" The anxiety in her voice was growing as she saw the haunted look on his face.

"I- that wasn't me." Damien looked to Hayden and Steve when he said it. "That wasn't _me_!" He raised his voice to emphasize his point.

Hayden watched him in disbelief. Then he caught on to what Damien was implying and shock crossed his features. "He was a fake. Like Harley!"

_Mierda. Maldito sea! _"We have to get to her. Now!" He said urgently. "Where did you guys last see her?!"

Sloane pointed towards a hallway nearby and they all took off in that direction. As they approached the paintings, Hayden pulled aside a security guard. "Pardon monsieur. Avez-vous vu une femme aux cheveux violette?" He pointed to Damien as he was likely elaborating with a description of who Maya was with.

Damien swallowed hard, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to steady his breathing. The guard nodded and gestured in the direction of the exit. He barely mumbled a thank you to the guard as he ran for the door, hoping that Maya was safe.


	3. Into the Night

_**Perma-note:**_ Dames' name is Dexter in this series. I'd already named him before Book 2 came out so I'm keeping it that way here

**Summary: **Maya and Alana are being held captive and are on their way to an unknown location. When they make a rest stop, they are presented with an chance to make a break for it.

* * *

"Okay seriously, are the handcuffs really necessary?" Alana gestured by pulling at one of her wrists, which was bound to the headrest of her seat; the handcuffs were small enough that her wrist was pulled far back, preventing her from moving around too much.

As a result, she had to rest her elbow along the window with her forearm bent back, rather than let it hang uncomfortably in front of her, as she kept her other hand on the steering wheel.

"We had to keep you in check somehow, while I helped deal with that one." Harley chuckled.

Alana had been driving the van for the past half hour or so, while Harley was giving her directions. As soon as he had restrained her to her seat, he'd turned to assist the fake Damien in binding an unconscious Maya. She was now lying on one side of the backseat, while said robot sat on the other side, watching her.

"Oh please," she scoffed. "She was nearly knocked out. I highly doubt that she could've tried anything."

"True," he remarked. "But we also happen to know what you're capable of. You'll have to forgive us for being a little cautious."

The fake Damien sighed, rubbing his jaw where Maya had punched him at one point. "For such a tiny person she really packs a punch," he muttered in annoyance.

"You boys saying you couldn't handle that precious little girl?" Alana smirked. "Guess Eros really knows how to make 'em."

"You know you're being awfully mouthy for someone being held at gunpoint." Before Harley could say anything further, some movement in the backseat caught his attention. "Well, look who's waking up!"

—

Maya's head was pounding. She could dimly hear female and male voices conversing around her. Then memories of the events from the museum came flooding back to her, as she started to become more aware of her surroundings. Her limbs still felt a little numb, but the effect was fading gradually.

She flexed her fingers experimentally, before she stirred and opened her eyes to the dark interior of a moving van, the tinted windows blocking much of the sunlight from outside.

Realizing that she was lying on her side in the van's backseat, she tried to push herself off the seat only to find that she couldn't use her arms; her wrists had been handcuffed behind her back.

"You're awake." Next to her, she heard Damien's voice, which she quickly remembered wasn't actually from him. The match was sitting on the other side of the backseat, watching her impassively.

"Nice seeing you again, Maya." Harley was watching her with a bright smile from the front seat. "Sleep well?"

Maya bristled and immediately let an unsavory remark slip out of her, only to find her words were muffled. It seemed that a cloth had also been tied over her mouth. She shifted awkwardly in her seat to sit up, letting out a frustrated noise over the limited support from her arms thanks to how tightly the cuffs were locked around them.

Harley saw her fumbling and chuckled. "Sorry about … all that," he nodded to her bonds. "You put up quite a fight earlier and all the screaming was giving him a headache." He pointed at the Damien-copy in a mock-accusing fashion.

"Speaking of which," the copy cut in, "You want some water?" he held out a water bottle in front of her. Maya looked at it skeptically, then back at him. Unable to speak past her gag, she just huffed angrily and looked away. Seeing her face, he smirked. "Don't worry Maya, I didn't spike it if that's what you're thinking." He gestured to the lid. "See? It's totally sealed."

"Let it go, Dexter. If she doesn't want it, she doesn't have to."

_Wait, what?_

Alana's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, so he's a robot copy of a detective and his name is Dexter?"

Maya snorted behind her gag, her frustration momentarily forgotten. _Seriously, can Rowan West be anymore cliché?_

Dexter shrugged. "Laugh all you want. Our father picks the names. Now do you want the water or not?"

She didn't want to take it. She really didn't. But at the same time, there was no way she wanted to stick around these guys for too long. An opportunity to escape could present itself anytime and when that happened, the possibility of being dehydrated was not the best idea; not to mention it would help with this goddamn headache she had. Hesitantly, she nodded.

Dexter scooted closer to her, reaching out and pulling down the cloth covering her mouth and then bringing the bottle to her lips. Maya guzzled the water as he tilted the bottle for her. She'd been far thirstier than she'd thought she was, what with all the insanity that had gone down not too long ago.

"You took the water after all. And you let him feed you." Harley was watching her from the rearview mirror with an intrigued smirk on his face. "It's so interesting how quickly a familiar face makes you let your guard down, isn't it Maya?"

Maya clenched her fists as she mentally sifted through numerous creative ways to tell him how _wrong _he was. It was tempting. So tempting. But then she stopped herself; this was likely some other sick experiment Eros was trying out on her. No way was she giving them the satisfaction of losing her temper first itself.

Instead, she turned her attention back to Dexter. "I could've drank that myself, you know."

"I'm sure you can," Dexter replied coolly. "But the cuffs stay on, Park." Just as he said that, he refastened the cloth over her mouth.

Maya could feel her anger rising more by the minute and hearing her name being spoken like that from this robot that had dared to impersonate her man wasn't making it any easier. Fighting the urge to kick him in his smug face, she just focused on what Damien would tell her in a dangerous situation like this.

_We can't let emotions get the better of us. We have to play it smart._

Damien may have let his emotions overrule his judgment himself many times during this whole debacle. But in this specific situation, he would be calming her down. These matches were not like the ones she'd seen before. They were clearly capable of harming them – given how Harley had managed to overpower _Alana _– and they were armed as well. Maya leaned back against the window, brows furrowed in worry. There had to be a way out of this.

Then, something on the floor of the van caught her eye. It was on hers and Alana's side of the vehicle.

She looked carefully at Dexter, who was staring out the window. Harley was typing something in his phone. Maya fixated her gaze on Alana until she met her glance; then she quickly darted her eyes towards the object on the floor of the van. She shifted closer to the edge of the seat, subtly enough not to catch Dexter's attention; making it seem as if she was adjusting her position.

Alana's expression remained calm and neutral; only her eyes flitted from Maya towards the area below her before focusing in front of her almost immediately. They'd just taken an exit from the highway and were headed towards a signal. She slowly pressed her foot on the accelerator, approaching the signal rapidly just as it turned red.

Harley saw the signal and frowned. "Slow down," he said. When they continued going faster, he looked to Alana accusingly. "Hey, it's a red light! Slow down!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Alana was feigning surprise and Maya braced herself on the edge of her seat, knowing exactly what was going to happen, her foot quickly darting out and pushing the object under Alana's seat. Alana quickly slammed the brakes, stopping the van exactly at the line before the signal and throwing everyone forward.

The momentum of the sudden brake forced the object on the floor to roll forward under Alana's seat to where her feet were. Just as Alana was jerked forward, she bent a little further, her fingers quickly grasping the object and tucking it carefully into the waistline of her dress within a matter of seconds.

Dexter sat back up from where he'd been thrown forward. "What was that all about?" he demanded.

"Well excuse me," Alana said defensively. "But it's a little hard to drive properly when one of your arms has been folded back like a chicken wing instead of, oh I don't know, _steering_?"

"Less complaining, more driving," he replied. "And watch it with the brakes! We're already behind schedule with the pit stop."

She shrugged. "It's your van, not mine. There's definitely something wrong with it."

"The tires probably lost air or got damaged during all that speeding," Harley muttered. "Had to drive all over the place to lose those guys."

Alana glanced at Maya, maintaining eye contact with her for a few seconds before looking ahead again. Maya looked between Alana and the two robots curiously. There was obviously something she'd missed when she'd been unconscious, and she had a feeling it had to do with their so-called car trouble – or whatever Alana was claiming it to be.

Perhaps their chance at escape was coming up sooner than she'd thought.

Once the signal turned green again, Alana took a few more turns and then pulled into a gas station, parking next to an air pump. "All right. Dexter, you stay with them." Harley said as he stepped out of the van. "I'll handle this."

Maya racked her brain for a solution. Then a thought occurred to her and she realized that her restraints needed to come off for it to happen. She already had a very good idea of what Alana was planning on doing. But there was no way they could try to escape together in their current position, that too, with both Dexter and Harley right there; they'd easily overpower them.

_Now if they were separated? _Surely one android would be easier to handle, wouldn't it?

There was no time to dwell on it too much. This was likely the only time they'd ever stop somewhere_. We could reach wherever they're taking us anytime and then our chance will be gone. _It was now or never.

With that thought, Maya reached out and gently nudged Dexter's leg with her foot. He watched her curiously before pulling down her gag. "I need to go to the bathroom," she said.

Dexter frowned at her, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Now?"

Harley was still standing outside, leaning halfway into the van. "And I suppose you need to go too?" He scoffed, peering at Alana.

"It would certainly make the rest of this journey more tolerable," she answered coolly.

"How do I know this isn't some trick?"

"I did just drink an entire bottle of water," Maya said. "And it's been a while since the museum." She looked directly at Dexter and swallowed her pride as she continued. "Please? It's urgent."

_I just asked a robot permission to go to the bathroom. Eros, I swear to god I'm gonna make you pay for this!_

Dexter stared her for a few moments, then sighed. "Fine," he said. "But only one of you goes at a time." He reached behind her and unlocked her handcuffs. Maya stepped out of the van, rubbing her wrists and momentarily enjoying her freedom of movement.

Harley was watching her carefully before turning to Dexter. "I'll go with her," he said. "You keep an eye on the other one." Then he took Maya by her elbow. "Let's go." Maya tried not to grimace at the extra pressure Harley put on her arm as he pulled her along. She turned to take one last look at Alana.

"Hurry up and do what you have to do, Park." Alana said simply.

Harley maintained his firm grip on Maya's arm as he led her behind the store to where the bathrooms were. Given that they were in a public place, he kept his body language casual. Maya did the same as she forced herself to look ahead. Her mind was racing as she thought through her plan again.

Would this work? If the escape route she was hoping for wasn't there, then that would leave her on her own with two robots. On the other hand, she would still be stuck with them if they took off together from here. So there was nothing to lose either way. This was a risk she had to take.

Harley stopped just outside the bathroom's entrance and released her. "You've got ten minutes."

Just as Maya started forward, his arm suddenly shot out and pressed against the brick wall, blocking her way. "Before you go in," he leaned slightly closer to her so that only she could hear what he was saying. "Father wants you alive, as I'm sure you know." Though Maya was listening to him, she continued to stare past him as he continued. "Now while I would never disobey that rule, there are other rules I can certainly bend."

Someone passed through the area and Harley quickly plastered a cheerful smile on his face, never breaking his gaze from Maya. "After all, I was designed to be rebellious as shown in your perfect match quiz results." His voice had a threatening edge to it. "Think about that when you consider your actions."

Maya swallowed hard as she tried to quell the uneasiness settling in her stomach. Then she looked back at him, maintaining his cold stare with a steely gaze of her own. "It's getting late," she said. "Shouldn't you call your daddy for an update? Wouldn't want to miss your bedtime story."

Harley's eyes visibly darkened at the insult, but his expression remained the same; clearly too mindful of the public surroundings to act on his threat. "Ten minutes," he repeated as he pushed himself off the wall, allowing her to go inside.

As soon as Maya entered the bathroom and into her stall, she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Burying her fingers in her hair, she leaned forward and took several deep, shaky breaths as she somehow managed to collect herself. There was no time to break down now. Once Alana made her move, she had to be ready.

While she finished what she had to do, her sight had zeroed in on a window in her stall. It was small, but still big enough for her to squeeze out. She climbed onto the toilet seat as quietly as she could and worked at unfastening the locks on the window, pushing it open gently.

* * *

Alana Kusuma was not one to act spontaneously; premeditated scheming was more her style. She wasn't entirely sure if this idea of hers would work, but this was just supposed to be a distraction after all.

Besides, this sudden turn of events hadn't exactly given her time to think things through. Especially now that she knew that these robots in particular were much stronger than expected. Sloane had said that matches couldn't harm humans, and as a result, Alana had greatly underestimated these two when she and Maya had been grabbed at the museum.

She'd heard them discussing bringing them to some location and luring the rest of the group there. The plan sounded vague, but whatever it was, it was clearly working. Damien and his friends were most certainly on their trail by now. It was hardly surprising that Eros would use one of them to lead the others into a trap, based on what she'd already heard about them.

To make matters worse, Alana was clearly expendable in all of it. Why, she didn't know; but she wasn't going to stick around to find out. She'd thought that perhaps if there was a way to delay this little expedition, chances of making a getaway were higher.

So while driving, Alana had surreptitiously pulled the emergency brake from time to time. That had slowed the van down and when asked about it, she'd been able to play it off as car trouble.

Maya had been out cold during all this, but to her credit, she seemed to have caught on rather quickly to what was going on here. These matches clearly intended to keep a close eye on them and going up against both of them while in restraints was not going to end well.

Not even with the syringe Maya had covertly stolen from the robots and transferred to her.

But Harley being preoccupied with taking Maya to the restroom had presented the perfect opportunity now.

Once they left, Dexter climbed out of the vehicle, heading behind it to inspect the tires.

Alana immediately got to work at loosening her seat's headrest. She pressed the button with her free hand to release the latch and used her bound hand to push up the headrest just past its maximum height. She then sat as tall as possible to conceal the change. Alana had done just enough that the headrest could easily be knocked off of the seat, but still looked as though it was attached.

"They look fine to me," Dexter was muttering as he climbed back into the passenger seat.

"You know," Alana called to him before he could shut the door. "It's interesting that instead of you, Harley is escorting her back there."

"Yeah," he said. "Leaving me here with you."

Alana sighed heavily in a show of nonchalance. "It's probably a good thing he went anyway." She commented dryly. "Maybe he just realized that she's too much of a handful for you to deal with."

Dexter turned to her, narrowing his eyes. "You know, you seem to be forgetting your role in all this." He leaned across the seat, placing his arm on the shoulder of her seat.

"How do you know it's not because I'm the only one who can handle you?" He cocked his head to the side, smirking. "I _am _a copy of your ex-partner after all. Don't you think that gives me an advantage?"

Alana responded by leaning closer, readying herself. "You don't know the half of it, love." she whispered coquettishly. Her movement tugged at the headrest of the seat and it fell off, freeing her cuffed wrist.

Dexter immediately looked in that direction and frowned. "Hey, what-" Her other hand came opposite from the direction he was looking, stabbing the syringe into his neck.

Dexter let out a surprised cry, clutching at his neck. Alana delivered a powerful kick to his stomach, knocking him out of the vehicle. She leaned forward to slam the door and then in a series of rapid movements, turned the engine back on, put the van in reverse and hit the accelerator.

—

Maya had quickly wriggled out the window and crept across the yard right into the forest behind the gas station and bordering the highway. She made her way through the woods, taking care not to run too loudly. It was only a matter of time before Harley realized she was gone and would start following her.

Fortunately for her it was night time, so no one was around to see what she was doing. She hadn't made one sound the entire time she'd been inside, not even bothering to flush; giving the impression that she was still inside.

Soon, she could distantly hear him calling. _Time's up._

Immediately, there was a loud _SCREEEEEEEEECH _of tires. Maya whirled around as she heard Harley shout in outrage.

_I knew it. _Whether Dexter was still with Alana or had decided to let her go, she couldn't tell and was certainly not interested in finding out the hard way.

Taking that as her cue, she turned around and bolted into the night.

_Looks like I'm on my own for now._


	4. Fight or Flight

_**Perma-note: **_Dames' name is Dexter in this series. I'd already named him before Book 2 came out so I'm keeping it that way here

**Summary: **Damien and the gang are chasing the van and come in contact with a familiar face. Meanwhile, Maya and Alana are on the run. Will their friends catch up to them? Or will someone else find them first?

* * *

Damien gripped the steering wheel tightly as the car maneuvered from one lane to another, overtaking anyone he came across and scanning every vehicle he saw to check if it was the van he was looking for.

Hayden was facing the back window, checking to see if anyone from Eros was following them while Steve looked out the side windows to spot any other suspicious vehicles. Nadia was sitting on the edge of her seat, her hands on the shoulder of Damien's headrest as she kept peering in every direction outside, apparently having hoped that her cousin would've jumped out of the van somewhere along the way.

As soon as the matches had taken off with Maya and Alana at the museum, Sloane had pulled up on the same curb in the rental car the group had used to get here. They'd been following them for the last forty five minutes now, speeding down main roads, back roads and eventually into the highway. But after some of the van's many detours, they'd lost sight of them and were struggling to catch their trail again.

"Sloane," Damien glanced at the passenger seat where she was sitting now. "You find anything yet?"

"I'm working on it," she replied, typing away furiously in her tablet. "I've entered the codes to hack their GPS. But I'm not sure how far they've gone, so it could take a bit before I get a signal." While everyone else was on high alert for a sighting of the van, Sloane had noted that Harley possessed a similar digital signature to Hayden, so she was using Hayden's programming to try and track down his other version.

Suddenly, Sloane's phone started ringing, indicating an incoming video call. The caller ID read as 'Unknown'. Everyone in the car looked at each other uncertainly before Damien nodded to her. She swiped to answer it. "Hello?"

A familiar face came into view. "Sloane," Cecile's smooth, cold voice greeted her on the other line.

"Cecile." Sloane kept her cool, but there was still a trace of anger in her voice.

"So nice to hear from you again. Enjoying your trip to Paris?" she quipped. "I hope you found time to visit the Louvre. So much exquisite _artwork_."

Nadia bristled at that. "How dare you-"

"How about you cut to the chase, Cecile?" Damien stated curtly. "Where's Maya?" He was hardly in the mood to prolong this conversation. No matter how much he wanted to curse Eros and its depraved CEO to the deepest pits of hell, call Cecile all sorts of names, find those matches and strangle them, blame himself for not protecting Maya, he had pushed everything else to the back of his mind.

Now Damien was running on pure adrenaline, his only interest being in catching up to that goddamn van.

Cecile sighed. "Well since you really want to know." he heard the sound of typing in the background; then suddenly, the video of Cecile changed to a different one. The new footage displayed the violet seats of the inside of a van.

Hayden sucked in a breath.

In direct view of the video was Maya. She was lying on her side, out cold. Her wrists had been bound behind her back and a cloth was tied over her mouth. As he glanced at the footage, Damien's hands tightened considerably around the steering wheel and he gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep his eyes on the road.

Nadia's hands flew to her mouth. "Maya …" she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. Steve squeezed her hand comfortingly, his lips set in a tight line. Sloane had a morose expression on her face as she viewed the video quietly. Finally, Damien took the phone from her to get a closer look.

Courtesy of his law enforcement training in analyzing video footage, he could make out a pair of slacks and a jacket identical to his as the video moved around. It was the match; his copy. He was sure of it. Then the footage panned to the front seat where Alana was driving, one of her hands cuffed to the seat's headrest. Then another familiar face came into view in the passenger seat.

Sloane's eyes widened. "Wait, is that …?"

"Harley," Hayden spat.

The video switched back to Cecile's face. "I suppose Maya would have already told you about Harley. The new and improved version of #109? His companion, on the other hand, is a more … recent creation."

"You have some real nerve, trying to replace me with a robot." Damien snapped.

"No need to take it personally, Damien. I assure you there is a purpose to all this."

"And what purpose is that?"

"What it's always been – to take back what's ours." Then her eyes narrowed. "Which brings me to my next order of business." Cecile sat back in her chair. "We want our hardware back – your _Steve_ and _Hayden._" Her lips curled in distaste, apparently at having to say their names. "And you're going to bring them to us if you want your friends back. Two of yours for two of ours."

Damien caught onto her word choice in that last sentence. "So that's why you sent your men after me," his jaw was taut with anger as the events at the museum replayed in his mind. "And used a copy of me to lure Maya."

"Very good, detective," she sneered. "I'll admit that you escaping was unanticipated, but Ms. Kusuma's arrival proved most opportune instead."

"What exactly are you getting out of this?" Sloane demanded. "I know the inner workings of Matches inside out. I know they can't hurt them."

"Now when did I ever say they were just Matches?"

"Hey!" Nadia tore the phone out of Damien's hand. "The real Damien is with us and you know it! He would never-"

"And when did I say they were humans?" she taunted. "You really are too naïve for your own good."

"Who are you calling naïve, you b-" before she could start the inevitable string of expletives Damien saw coming, he snatched the phone back from her.

"Get to the point, Cecile. What are they?"

"Mr. West sent his best to watch over Maya. They're highly skilled and more than capable of engaging if asked to. I believe Maya already asked me about them once, don't you remember?"

"Sirens."

"Not quite." Cecile smirked. "Not yet at least, but we'll get there soon thanks to your little girlfriend's past affair with Hayden. I'm sure the data they provided would advance our research leaps and bounds ahead of where it is now. And depending on where this goes," she pointed to her tablet, displaying the video footage they'd seen earlier, and then to them. "Maybe even better."

"And we're just supposed to assume you'll let us go if we come? How do we know you won't just capture us all again?"

"I'm afraid that's not really up to you, Damien." Cecile replied smoothly. "Of course, don't show up if you don't want to. But in that case I can't guarantee your friend's safety." She placed her clasped hands on the table and leaned forward, grinning smugly. "After all, given how her last consultation went at our facility, her experiment was left incomplete. Fortunately, Harley is still around to complete the task."

Nadia's face paled. "You- you can't do that! You won't get away with this!"

"Oh I think we will, now that we've taken our files back," she retorted. "Go to the police or to the press if you want. Let's see if they believe you without the proper evidence."

"Please, please don't hurt them."

"As I said, you're in no position to negotiate now. You brought this on yourselves by interfering with our experiments and stealing our property in the first place," Her tone was venomous as she glared at them. "Considering your actions at the facility, you're lucky she has been unharmed until now. Think about it." Then she pressed a button and hung up the call.

* * *

Dexter stood up, coughing and waving the dust out of his face as he watched the van take off from the station. He rubbed his neck where Alana had attacked him with the syringe. Fortunately, his lack of a circulatory system had spared him the effects of the drug

Suddenly an electronic device strapped to his belt beeped and he answered it. "Hello?" He spoke into his comm as he walked around, searching for some alternate method of transportation.

"It's Maya. She escaped! Into the forest." Harley's snarl came on the other line when he answered. "I need you to take the van and go around the highway to the other side of this station. Pull over and I'll meet you there."

Dexter cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah about that …"

There was a groan on the other end. "Don't tell me."

"Yep, made off with the van."

"You were supposed to watch her!"

"I could say the same for you!"

"How the hell do you lose a handcuffed woman in a dress?!"

"Hey! She's an Interpol agent and she had the wheel, which by the way, was your call! Maya's an unarmed civilian on foot! What's your excuse?"

"She escaped out the back window," Harley muttered. "Looks like she didn't take my warning seriously enough."

_Warning? _Dexter frowned. For some reason, he didn't like how that sounded. "Harley?" he said carefully. "Remember our orders. She has to be brought back alive."

"How about you just focus on catching your prisoner before she gets away?"

"I'm serious, Harley."

The sounds of running in the background accompanied by the crunch of leaves paused, before he spoke again. "You're … concerned about her?" Dexter could hear the suspicion in Harley's voice.

At that remark, Maya's face suddenly seemed to flash in front of him. But it happened so quickly that he wasn't able to process the expression clearly enough to analyze the connection. "Don't be ridiculous," he shot back. "I just don't want you jeopardizing the mission."

"Fair enough. Now go after her and get her back or we won't make it to the location!" Harley snapped. "The last thing we need is their idiot friends catching up to us! Don't screw up." Then the call was disconnected.

Dexter sighed, grumbling to himself as he continued his search. When Maya had asked to go to the bathroom, he'd had a feeling that she'd pull something like this, but somehow hadn't been able to say no to her when she'd pleaded with him.

_Another goddamn perk of Damien Nazario's personality, I suppose._

Then he noticed a young blonde man across the station. He was sitting on his parked motorcycle while talking on his cellphone. Squaring his shoulders, Dexter walked up towards him casually, bits of his conversation becoming clearer as he got closer.

"I'm sorry I'm late Katie, my motorcycle ran out of fuel so I had to refill it …" The man was so engrossed with his conversation that he didn't notice Dexter approaching. "Yeah, okay. Love you." Once he hung up, he startled upon noticing him.

"Hey man, what's- whoa!" Without breaking his stride, Dexter reached out with one arm and shoved him off of the motorcycle with such force that the man flew back several feet. "What the hell- hey that's my bike!"

Ignoring him, Dexter swung his leg over the motorcycle, revved it up and headed for the road. As he picked up speed, he pulled out a small remote control from his belt and navigated to a particular setting. "Enjoy your ride for now, Kusuma," Dexter murmured, selecting a certain option. "Let's see how far you get." And with that, he turned up the throttle, staring intently in the direction of his target.

The blonde man stood up, completely puzzled. "He knocked me back at least six feet …" Then his phone rang again.

"Leo! Seriously, where the hell are you?!" Her voice came on the other line. "Are you on your way yet?"

Leo shifted awkwardly. "Yeah … funny story …"

—

There was a brief, uncomfortable silence as all of Cecile's implications were starting to sink in for everyone; the nature of those robots that had Maya and Alana at their mercy and what they were capable of doing to them.

The silence was broken by the _ping! _from Sloane's phone, revealing the location Cecile had asked them to come to.

"They- they won't _actually _hurt them, will they?" Nadia's voice wavered. "I mean, Maya said that Harley's based off of Hayden. He wouldn't, would he?" No one answered. "Damien?"

He sighed. "Harley was created to do psychological experiments on her by pushing her buttons, not to date her."

"It's true," Hayden remarked sadly. "They distorted my personality to fit their own ends. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care about her well being."

"But it still doesn't make sense," Steve interjected. "If they were going to capture Damien and replace him with a robot, why would they take Maya too? Couldn't they have just left him with her? I mean, it wasn't just her, he had us all fooled too!"

"Because she would've seen through it right away," Damien said. "Just like she did with Harley."

No one had seen this coming. Since Hayden was a robot himself, him being replaced wouldn't have been such a shock to them. Eros had already pulled that stunt once with Maya, and it was probably the same reason Harley hadn't been sent to lure her away from the group this time; she'd already met him. And they knew that she wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

But Damien was human. They wouldn't have been on guard around him they way they were with Hayden and Steve. Somehow it had never occurred to them that real people's appearances could have been copied to matches as well as their personalities. Based on what everyone had told him, the robot had played his part convincingly; taking full advantage of Maya's trust in Damien.

And now she was on her way to some unknown place, where Eros no doubt had something in store for her. At that thought, Cecile's words about his copy came to mind.

The guards that had ambushed him in the museum had intended to capture him too. What exactly did they want with Maya? And how was Damien to be involved this time?

There was definitely more to this than just a hostage exchange. The fact of the matter was that they knew too much already. They'd been in their facility, discovered many of Eros' secrets. They may have lost the incriminating data they had on Eros, but Sloane had proven she was an expert at hacking; she was more than capable of getting it back or finding something else on them. There was no way they would be let go free even if they were to hand over Hayden and Steve.

Damien let out a shaky breath as he tried to ease the pit forming in his stomach.

Sloane seemed to notice the worry on his face and she placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "They might have Maya now, but they're still on their way." She narrowed her eyes determinedly. "Even if we can't evade Eros, we can at least catch up to them. She's not going through this alone. Alana's with her, too. She'll be fine."

He nodded curtly and went back to focusing on driving. Several miles later, Sloane jumped in her seat. "I've got Harley's signal!" She exclaimed, pointing ahead. "It's coming from that gas station over there!"

Damien increased his speed as he turned in that direction, scanning the area for the vehicle; he eventually found one, but it wasn't the one he'd expected. As he approached the gas station, a motorcycle came speeding out of the station and onto the road. The person riding the motorcycle stood out to him and he narrowed his eyes.

But the van was nowhere to be seen, which could only mean one thing. "Everybody hang on," Damien called to his friends. Then he slammed the accelerator and they were off.

—

"_Cruise control activated."_

Alana raised an eyebrow. "What?" She reached for the small lever under her steering wheel and was surprised to find that the small light next to the label was turned on. "I didn't press anything, how the hell did that happen?" She pressed her foot on the accelerator again to automatically turn off the setting, but the van continued to lose speed.

After several minutes of trying and failing to deactivate the cruise control, something caught her eye in the rearview mirror. The revving of a motorcycle engine grew louder and she narrowed her eyes when Dexter came into view. "Well _that's _not a coincidence at all."

As he drove up the lane next to where she was driving, she jerked the steering wheel to the side to ram into him. Dexter switched directions and rode around her in a circle to the other side. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the gun Harley had left with him and aimed.

Then the strangest thing happened.

Dexter was pointing the gun at her window, but didn't fire. His brows were furrowed in thought as he seemed to hesitate. Then he lowered his aim towards the tires and fired. Cursing, Alana changed lanes rapidly to dodge the incoming bullets.

Then another vehicle came zooming from behind, flashing its brights. As it gained on them, Alana recognized Damien's rental car.

She smirked. "Now we're talking."

—

"Oh my god, he's shooting at them!" Nadia exclaimed.

Damien cursed under his breath as he reached for the taser in his jacket. "Sloane, take over the wheel!" With his foot still on the accelerator, he opened the window and leaned out while Sloane lunged for the steering wheel. "Get closer to that bike!"

As she complied, Damien pointed the taser at the match's gun and fired. The match seemed to notice and quickly swerved to the side. The weapon's needle-tipped wires shot out, hitting the bike's tires instead.

The match turned around, his teeth bared into a snarl, allowing the group to see his face for themselves. Damien had to admit that the resemblance between them was uncanny.

"Quite the look you got there," Damien hollered. "But I still say it looks better on me!"

The match responded by firing his gun at their car tires, missing by barely an inch.

"Hey asshole!" Nadia called. "If you're gonna impersonate an ex-cop, learn to aim like one!"

As they drifted closer to the bike, Damien fired his taser again and this time, the wires hit the bike's rear seat. The subsequent crackle of electricity startled the match and he swerved closer to the van before leaping off of the bike and climbing onto the van's roof.

"Shit!" Damien muttered. He blared the car's horn to warn the girls as the robot continued to climb up the roof. He could only see so much of the van's interior due to its tinted windows, but he could make out Alana's figure at the driver's seat.

She lurched the van lurched forcefully from side to side to throw the match off, but he dug his fingers right into the metal to hold his position as he crawled towards the front. Just as he landed on the hood, Damien heard a loud _CRASH! _as the robot smashed his fist into the windshield, causing everyone to jump in their seats.

The van suddenly burst far ahead and began skidding all over the place; tires screeching, metal crunching, engines roaring. It turned in circles and changed directions rapidly.

"What in the world?!" Hayden barely had time to shout. "They're fighting over the wheel! They're going to crash at this rate!"

Damien sat back down and took the wheel, trying to get closer, without getting caught by the van's turbulent movement as it whirled in circles and veered toward the side of the highway.

They were still too far away to make out what exactly was going on, but Damien could only register one figure in red leaping onto the hood and jumping toward the side. The robot followed suit, pouncing onto her, and then both of them went over the hill.

The second figure they were anticipating didn't come out and the van didn't stop. They could only watch in horror as the vehicle spun out of control and then crashed head-on into the guardrail, bending the metal and leaning dangerously over the edge.

Damien barely registered Sloane's terrified gasp, before he slammed his foot on the accelerator and raced over to the crash site.

As soon as they'd stopped, he hopped out and sprinted over to the van, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of the front. All the airbags had inflated and there were glass shards everywhere from the destroyed windshield. He could also see that the front seats were empty, but could barely make out the backseat due to the broken glass and the thick smoke rising from the engine.

"Maya?!" Nadia was calling. There was no answer. "Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay!"

Damien's heart was pounding a mile a minute as he rushed to the side door. "Maya!" he called her name desperately as he hit the window a couple of times. "Maya can you hear me? We're going to get you out!"

"Damien," he felt Hayden's hand on his shoulder. "I got this." Realizing what he planned to do, Damien stepped aside and watched as Hayden gripped the door and pried it off of the van with ease. Then the group peered inside only to find it empty.

"Thank god," Nadia sighed in relief. "She definitely would've gotten injured in that crash."

"But then where is she?" Sloane was frowning at her tablet and then peering in the direction of the gas station. "I didn't see her jump out of the van, but I know she has to be around here!"

"And where's Harley? He isn't here either."

Damien was positive that Maya would have tried to escape at some point here and also that if Harley wasn't here helping out his accomplice, then he was definitely with her; or at least going after her.

He nodded in the direction of the wooded area where Alana had disappeared with his copy. "Only one way to find out."

—

Maya didn't know how long she'd been running now, weaving through several bushes and pushing past tree branches. Though she'd made it into the forest long before Harley had found out what she'd done, it was a small enough area that she'd been able to hear him running towards her and she'd deviated in several directions, hoping to throw him off her trail.

She knew the highway would be somewhere on the other side, but this was still a deep forest. At this point she was running blindly, hoping she'd at least covered enough distance to lose Harley.

After various detours, she stopped to catch her breath, panting with exhaustion and sweating profusely. While recovering, Maya checked her surroundings quickly for any suspicious movement. She heard nothing nearby besides the soft rustling of leaves, but distantly, she wasn't sure if she'd imagined the sound of car tires screeching.

Not wanting to take chances, Maya crept across the clearing and found a hiding place behind a rather large tree near several bushes. Sighing, she rubbed her knees where she'd scraped them from the few times she'd fallen while running. She rested against the tree and started searching her pockets for her phone.

This far out in the highway and in the middle of a forest, Maya wasn't sure she'd get a signal, but now that she was away from watchful eyes, it was worth trying to call Damien or one of the others.

"Come on, come on." she grumbled, as all she managed to fish out was some spare change and chewing gum. "Great. Of course one of them took it."

"Looking for something?"


End file.
